The Fairy Flag of the MacLeod

On the beautiful Isle of Skye, off the coast of Scotland, stands the Castle Dunvegan. The twelfth-century castle is the home of the MacLeods, an ancient Scottish clan. If you ever happen to visit, do see their fairy flag, which is on display even today. If you believe fairies belong to, well, fairy tales, read this one—it’s real.

Long, long ago, a young chief of the famed Scottish clan, the MacLeods, met a beautiful fairy princess and fell in love. Now, the Scottish isles are full of scenic glens and dales, ideal fairy territory, and it’s not uncommon for a young man riding though the highlands to chance upon the fairy folk if he looks around closely enough.

The young chief was a handsome lad and the fairy princess was equally smitten. She went to her father, the king of the fairies, and told him that she wished to marry the young man she found in the forests.

‘No! You can’t marry a human, my dear,’ he said shaking his head, ‘We’re the Shining Folk, and you are a fairy princess, don’t forget!’

‘But, Father, I love him!’ she cried, her beautiful violet eyes welling up with tears that looked like the morning dew. ‘I will marry only him and none other!’

The fairy king sighed and looked heavenwards. ‘Don’t you see? All humans will grow old and die one day. As for us, we are going to be here forever. You don’t want more heartbreak, do you? Think of that, how would it be, he growing old and dying one day and you living forever, mourning him?’

The fairy princess cried copiously. She refused to sleep or eat. Like all fathers who love their daughters, the fairy king’s heart melted. He couldn’t bear to see his beloved child this way. So he called her to his side and said, ‘Okay, you win, for now at least. I will agree to a period of handfasting but at the end of it, you must return to our fairy realm.’

Now, handfasting was a peculiar custom of the times in the Scottish highlands, where, for the duration of a year and a day, a man and woman could enter into a marriage.

‘But remember, when you return you shall bring nothing human back with you!’ the king said, looking at his daughter meaningfully.

‘Agreed!’ said the princess, smiling happily.

Very soon, the fairy princess had a grand ceremony where she handfasted the MacLeod chief. Together, they returned to Dunvegan, the MacLeod castle, as man and wife. Time passed by so quickly, as good times usually do, and a beautiful baby boy was born to them. A year passed and then a day. The fairy princess knew her time was up.

Tearfully she hugged her husband and held her baby close. ‘It’s time now. And go I must!’ said she.

‘You can’t leave me alone!’ cried her husband who loved his wife dearly. ‘Isn’t there some way you can . . .’

‘No,’ she replied through her tears. ‘Besides, it’s I who will be henceforth alone, for our child shall stay with you! Do not ever let him shed a tear.’

Accompanied by her husband and baby son, the princess made her way to the fairy bridge where her father and their fairy clan were waiting for her. Bidding her final goodbye to her family, the fairy princess returned home to the fairy land as promised.

The young MacLeod chief was inconsolable for he loved his fairy wife very much indeed and could not imagine a life without her. ‘And I will keep my promise, little one . . . I will take good care of you and never will you cry,’ he whispered tearfully to the blissfully smiling baby in his arms.

The MacLeod chief grew sadder with each passing day and all his clansmen worried about his well-being. They decided to organize a feast on his birthday, something to cheer him up. It was a grand affair with much merrymaking. Wine and ale flowed; pipes, harps and fiddles filled the castle with music. Everyone was in high spirits and soon the reluctant chief, too, joined the celebrations.

The nurse who was taking care of the baby, hearing the music and laughter downstairs, went to have a look, leaving the sleeping baby in his bassinet. But shortly after, the baby awoke and began to cry, kicking off the covers. The sound was drowned in the din downstairs but someone in the fairy realm had heard his piteous cries. His mother rushed to his side in the form of a spirit mist. Since she could no longer hold him in her arms, she wove a magical green shawl with soft silken threads over his bassinet to keep him warm.

Softly, she began to sing a fairy lullaby and the baby went to sleep once again. Hearing the hauntingly beautiful song coming from the infant’s room, the nurse returned but just as she entered, the fairy mother vanished.

The nurse saw the new green, silken cover and alerted the chief. When she faithfully reported what had transpired, he knew it was his wife who had visited the sleeping baby. He stroked his son’s sleeping head fondly and sighed.

The nurse had memorized the song she heard and even today that lullaby is sung to put babies to sleep on the Isle of Skye. It is called the Cradle Spell of Dunvegan.

As the MacLeod chief’s son grew older, he recounted to his father how his mother had come to him that night. ‘That shawl, Father, is magic! In times of any danger that may befall us, all we need to do is wave it as a flag and the fairies shall come and save us.’

The chief believed him and they had the silken shawl placed in a special casket. ‘But we can seek help only three times,’ said the boy, ‘and after that the flag will return to the fairies.’

The flag has since been used only twice, to this day. The first time was hundreds of years later when the MacLeods were waging a war with their bitter enemies, the MacDonalds. They attacked the island on a Sunday, burning down a church with people praying inside. The remaining MacLeods rushed to the beach and the flag was taken out of the casket and waved thrice. Their band of warriors grew in size miraculously and vanquished the enemy clan.

The second instance was at the time of the dreaded cattle and sheep plague. All the MacLeod livestock lay dying. The flag was waved and the fairies rode up and gently touched the dead animals with their swords and they came back to life, healthy.

The flag has not been used since and you can still see it in the Castle Dunvegan if you were to go there today.